Three Mile Island Has Powered Down
Three Mile Island Unit 1 has officially stopped producing electricity.
The nuclear power plant is most associated with Unit 2, which suffered a partial meltdown in 1979. Unit 1 has provided power for over 800,000 homes and businesses since then, but was unable to compete with natural gas as a lone reactor.
Because of the dangers of nuclear waste, a smaller number of employees will be working at the plant through 2060.
Just a few weeks after its 45th birthday, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant has officially stopped producing electricity. Because of the nature of nuclear energy, it will take 60 years for parent company Exelon Corp. to close and decommission the plant.
“Today we celebrate the proud legacy of TMI Unit 1 and the thousands of employees who shared our commitment to safety, operational excellence, and environmental stewardship for nearly five decades,” said Bryan Hanson, Exelon's senior vice president and chief nuclear officer, in a press statement.
“At a time when our communities are demanding more clean energy to address climate change,” Hanson continued, “it’s regrettable that state law does not support the continued operation of this safe and reliable source of carbon-free power. It’s critical that we continue to pursue policy reform to prevent other carbon-free nuclear resources from being pushed out of the market by rules that fail to evenly value clean energy resources and at the same time allow emitting resources to pollute for free.”
According to Exelon, Three Mile Island Unit 1 was able to reliably power 830,000 homes and businesses over its years of service. But the legacy of Unit 1 will always be overshadowed by Unit 2, which suffered a partial meltdown in 1979 that became the worst commercial nuclear incident in American history.
During an unplanned automatic shutdown of TMI-2's reactor, a relief valve stayed open for longer than it should have. In turn, that cooling malfunction caused part of the plant's core to melt down. While there were no deaths or reported injuries, over 140,000 people voluntarily evacuated the central Pennsylvania area around the plant.
While TMI-2 was abandoned, workers returned to TMI-1 in 1985 amidst protests. By 1994, according to the World Nuclear Association, it became "one of the first two plants in the history of U.S. commercial nuclear power to achieve a three-year average capability factor of over 90 [percent]," meaning that workers could harness 94.3 percent of the energy it generated.
But while TMI-1 became an effective nuclear plant, by 2013 it was unable to turn a profit. For years, Exelon was unable to secure a contract getting Three Mile Island onto Pennsylvania's state grid. The challenges came from several sources, including keeping up with the cost of natural gas as a energy source, in addition to the unique problem the plant faced of having only one reactor.
Earlier this year, the plant announced it would stop producing energy, and now it has. Three-hundred of TMI-1’s employees will keep their jobs for the first phase of decommissioning, but by 2022, only 50 will remain. The new job: ensuring nuclear waste from the plant never harms anyone.
“We salute Three Mile Island and its employees for the service and partnership they have provided to Londonderry Township and the surrounding communities for 45 years,” said Londonderry Township Manager Steve Letavic in Exelon's press statement. “This is a tough day for many. However, we look forward to maintaining a strong relationship with those at the facility as it enters into decommissioning.”
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